Spain Ready to End All Imports of Russian Gas by 2027, Says Enagás Chief

Spain’s national gas network operator Enagás has declared it is ready to completely phase out Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports by 2027, provided that the European Union accelerates its planned timeline for eliminating Russian energy from the European market.

The Gaze reports this, referring to Reuters.

The European Union’s plan to fully cut off Russian energy supplies cleared its first political hurdle in October, and discussions are now underway on a new sanctions package that could bring the LNG import ban forward to January 2027.

Arturo Gonzalo, CEO of Enagás – Spain’s national energy company and the EU’s designated gas transmission system operator – said the company’s infrastructure is already fully capable of operating without Russian gas. 

“I understand that it makes sense that Europe has to raise the bar of ambition of sanctions against Russia. We are technically prepared to operate without Russian gas,” Gonzalo said.

He emphasized that a 2027 LNG ban would be feasible both technically and logistically, thanks to Europe’s increasingly diversified energy infrastructure.

Gonzalo also noted that gas network operators already use accreditation systems to track the origin of LNG shipments. 

Enagás requires carriers to declare the source of any cargo unloaded at Spanish ports through its digital logistics platform, where the information is verified by documentation and subject to customs inspection.

According to Gonzalo, the global LNG market is sufficiently liquid to replace Russian volumes without disruptions.

“Once the LNG from Russia stops coming, a very good part of that is going to be replaced by U.S. LNG,” he explained.

Spain, already one of Europe’s least dependent nations on Russian energy, has emerged as a leading voice for accelerating the EU’s energy transition and expanding LNG imports from the United States, Qatar, and African producers.

As The Gaze previously reported, on October 9, European Union ambassadors reached an agreement on a landmark plan to phase out imports of Russian oil and gas by January 2028, and ban Russian LNG one year earlier, in an effort to deprive the Kremlin of vital funding for its war in Ukraine.